Who Ran the Cities?: City Elites and Urban Power Structures in Europe and North America, 1750û1940

It is the purpose of this volume to further understanding of who actually ran cities in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and to develop greater understanding of the relationship between elite and power in cities. In order to come to workable answers, two fields of research, which unfortunately have often remained separate, have been brought together: the economic, social and cultural history of elite and the political history of power resources and decision-making. By looking at specific case studies through the lens of these issues, the volume will encourage the reader to challenge common perceptions of a monolithic elite and to replace such perceptions with a more sophisticated view of urban power as an interplay between various economic, social, political and cultural elite groups. To contribute to this complex account of cities, elite, and power, the study brings together different methodological approaches to studying European, as well as American cities and the wider world.The question of who actually ran cities in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries has been increasingly debated by urban historians in recent years. As well as trying to understand the distribution of political power, and the rise of broad political participation; the question of how and whether the elite retained influence in the municipal government has attracted much scholarly attention. This volume provides a detailed examination of the relationship between elite and power in cities; bringing together the economic, social and cultural history of elite and the political history of power resources and decision-making. By looking at specific case studies through the lens of these issues, this volume challenges common perceptions of a monolithic elite and provides a more sophisticated view of urban power as an interplay between various economic, social, political and cultural elite groups. To contribute to this complex account of cities, elite, and power, the study brings together different methodological approaches to studying European, as well as American cities and the wider world.Contents: General Editors' Preface; Preface; Introduction: who ran the cities?, Ralf Roth and Robert Beachy. Part I The British Model - City Elites in the United Kingdom: Pluralist power in 18th century English Towns: the urban elite of King's Lynn, Emi Kinoshi; Urban power, industrialisation and political reform: Swansea elites in the town and region, 1780-1850, Louise Miskell; Who really ran the cities? Municipal knowledge and policy networks in British local government 1832-1914, James Moore and Richard Rodger; Running an unregulated town: strategies of Lincoln's municipal elite 1860-1910, Denise McHugh; The challenge of urban democracy: municipal elites in Edinburgh and Leipzig 1890-1930, Michael Schäfer. Part II Diversity - Formal and Informal Structures of Continental Europe's City Elites: Governing Trondheim in the 18th century: formal structures and everyday life, Steinar Supphellen; German urban elites in the 18th and 19th centuries, Ralf Roth; Voluntary society in mid-19th century Pest: urbanisation and the changing distribution of power, Árpá Tóth; Running 'modern' cities in a patriarchal milieu: perspectives from the 19th century Balkans, Dobrinka Parusheva. Part III Democratic Metropolises - City Elites in North America: Class and politics: the case of New York's bourgeoisie, Sven Beckert; A 'Jeffersonian skepticism of urban democracy'? the educated middle class and the problem of political power in Chicago 1880-1940, Marcus Gräser; Patrician elites and power in 19th century Montreal and Quebec City, Brian Young; Bibliography.About the Author: Robert Beachy is Professor of History at Goucher College, USA. Ralf Roth is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and History at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Germany.